


winter peonies

by owlsshadows



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff, M/M, Post-Time Skip, Short, Twitter Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:22:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25472335
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/owlsshadows/pseuds/owlsshadows
Summary: Miya Osamu remembered him.It’s been seven years since their last Interhigh, Akaashi was wearing a winter coat and glasses, and Miya Osamu still recognized him.Akaashi was a literature major. He wrote poems and novels; though the latter he never completed and the former he never showed to anyone, he was a romantic soul through and through.He recognized a fated encounter when he had it.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Miya Osamu
Comments: 6
Kudos: 95





	winter peonies

**Author's Note:**

> written for Aesh for the prompt osaaka + freshly picked flowers
> 
> \----------
> 
> i have no idea why i wrote this in past tense. i struggle with the tenses. see the extra where i immediately switch back to present tense ^^"

Miya Osamu remembered him. 

It’s been seven years since their last Interhigh, Akaashi was wearing a winter coat and glasses, and Miya Osamu still recognized him.

Akaashi was a literature major. He wrote poems and novels; though the latter he never completed and the former he never showed to anyone, he was a romantic soul through and through.

He recognized a fated encounter when he had it.

It was a soft buzz under his skin, excitement rushing through his veins and making him antsy. He watched as the Jackals took the first set and the game took his attention away from Miya Osamu temporarily; as the last point was made, however, and the players returned to their benches to refresh themselves, the buzz returned tenfold, making it hard to stay in place.

Fueled by the best tasting onigiri he had in a while, Akaashi turned towards his sleep-deprived mangaka and patted Udai’s shoulder.

“I’m stepping out for a bit.”

“Alright.”

“Do you know any flower shops nearby?”

“How would I know?” Udai asked.

“Well. You’re from Miyagi?”

“... who lives in Tokyo for almost ten years now. Shops change.”

“True,” Akaashi nodded, considering his options. “I’ll be back,” he said, leaving his unruly mangaka behind.

Intervals between sets in an official volleyball match do not take much time – definitely not enough for Akaashi to procure a bouquet – and still, his inner romantic urged him to present some kind of gift as a sign of his courtship.

He stepped out to the cool, windy November afternoon, breathing in the chill of Sendai. His eyes scanned the surroundings frantically. Apart from a few, hastily erected stalls selling Adlers and Jackals stuff and sweets, nothing caught his eye. Sweets, he could do. But wouldn’t that feel like he was buying snacks from the competition? Buying volleyball merchandise was also something he would have liked to avoid at all costs. He imagined Miya Osamu’s facial expression upon receiving an MSBY Black Jackals keychain or an Adlers T-shirt and wished he could do this simply, walking up to Osamu and invite him for a coffee, as any normal person would do – but he is Akaashi Keiji. He chose his high school because he saw a star in Bokuto. 

He had to be dramatic.

He rubbed the back of his head in frustration when he spotted it. Tucked away in a seemingly forgotten corner of the gymnasium, a surprising sight of a bush with large, pink blossoms greeted him.

Winter peonies. 

Normally, he would have not picked flowers planted in the nooks of gymnasium buildings – it was simply not appropriate. But having a fated encounter overwrites societal norms, does it not?

He licked his lips in excitement, heart throbbing in his ears, as he speed-walked to the peonies. He took a sneaky glance around in order to avoid the judgemental looks of people passing by and picked off one of the full, pink flowers. He sank it in his pocket, returning to the gymnasium with fast steps.

The next set had already started, and Akaashi felt it would be rude to draw Miya Osamu’s attention away from the game – especially as he himself was mesmerized by it. He walked back to Udai, watching the Adlers seizing the second set.

“So?” Udai asked. “Found it?”

“Sort of.”

“Mission accomplished?”

Akaashi gulped. “Not yet.”

Miya Osamu remembered him. He remembered Miya Osamu, too. 

Sure, he had it easier, meeting Atsumu every now and then when he was hanging out with the colorful company of Bokuto’s eccentric friends. But he remembered Osamu not as the twin brother of Atsumu or one part of the high school volleyball dream team package deal the “Miya twins”. Akaashi remembered Osamu from their one and only match together in third year’s Interhigh. He had formidable form, surely, and superb serves, driving Akaashi desperate. What made their encounter truly memorable in Akaashi’s eyes, though, was a moment unrelated to volleyball. After the match, Osamu walked up to him to congratulate, and apologize for his brother’s loud discontent over losing. It was in that moment, as they shook hands, that Osamu’s stomach grumbled. Akaashi offered him a store-bought onigiri.

In hindsight, that onigiri must have been horrible compared to those Osamu made. He still accepted it with shining eyes and Akaashi, in a moment of fatigue-induced weakness, found him cute.

The next interval found Akaashi walking up to Onigiri Miya’s booth. Later he could not recall how he managed to invite him on a date – he only remembered the tingling sensation under his skin and the twist in his stomach; the smile Osamu gifted him with and the lingering touch as they exchanged phone numbers.

“Your onigiri is great, by the way,” Akaashi said then, finally, with a stumbling step down the stairs towards his mangaka.

Miya Osamu stifled a laugh. “Thanks.”

Since then, it’s been a long night spent in Bokuto’s company and a morning fighting with a terrible hangover.

And Miya Osamu remembered to call him.

***

little extra Osamu POV

After the Interhigh, Osamu didn't think he would see Akaashi Keiji again. But the world is smaller than we think it, and after seven years he sees him for the second time in thirty minutes.

"Back for seconds?" Osamu asks, teasing in his voice.

"Um. Almost," Akaashi replies. Compared to their first encounter before the match, he seems somewhat ruffled, cheeks red and hair sticking out from behind his ears.

"Alright," Osamu replies, turning his attention towards the cooler boxes at the back. "Let me know which flavour when you've made up your mind."

"Coffee," he hears Akaashi saying.

He straightens, confused. "Coffee onigiri?"

"Coffee date," Akaashi specifies. "What I mean is… would you like to drink a coffee together?"

Surprised but pleasantly so, Osamu smiles. "Sounds good."

"I… um," Akaashi continues, bright red. "This is for you."

He holds out a flower, bushy and pink.

Osamu takes it, holding Akaashi's hand instead of the stem of the flower.

"The only thing I can give in reply is my phone number," he says, and he hopes that it sounds just as smooth to Akaashi as it sounded in his head. "If you'd like."

"Yes!"


End file.
